Dadda'
by evenstar8705
Summary: A one shot about Kira Nerys dealing with motherhood.


Kira was planning to go alone to her check-up with Julian but she decided at the last minute to bring along her firstborn, pulling him out of the station nursery. She observed him for a while from a safe distance curious to see for herself how he behaved without her around.

Kira Pohl was a little over two years old and Kira Nerys was halfway along a pregnancy with another boy. Pohl was playing quietly with blocks in a corner to himself. Toddlers of many species stomped or crawled or flew nearby but he was firmly fixed in his own world. When another child tried to get his attention he mostly ignored them. Language was not the problem. Babies all over the galaxy had near universal wants and needs. How glorious that brief window of time was. If only it lasted.

Pohl was too clever for her. The boy spotted his mother trying to hide as though he sensed her and simply reached his arms in her direction. Kira scooped him up in her arms, adjusting him to her hip to free at least one hand. Pohl was lighter but taller than babies of his type with Odo's blonde hair and blue eyes. She kissed his hair and informed the staff she was taking him home early.

"How was he today?" she asked them.

"Good as gold. He consistently is one of the best behaved!"

"You're not just buttering me up since he's mine, are you?" Kira said suspiciously.

"Oh, no, Commander! Is your pregnancy going smoothly? There's nothing wrong, is there?" they asked with concern.

"I don't think so. I haven't been to Dr. Bashir quite yet. I figured it was an opportunity for Pohl to get a small check-up."

"Bye, Pohl!"

Although the staff waved at him and smiled, the toddler stared and made no sound in response. He gripped his mother and laid his head on her shoulder. Kira leaned her head on her neck to touch hers to his.

"Oh, I'm glad you brought the tyke!" Julian was pleased as punch to see him just as she thought he would be. "Here's a jumja stick!"

"Please don't make a mess with it, sweetie," Kira told her son even though she knew ordering a youngster rarely worked.

Pohl sat on the ground to enjoy the sticky sweet treat made of Bajoran tree sap and Bashir resumed Kira's scheduled appointment. He reported that all seemed well but he encouraged her to gain a few pounds.

"I just got my body somewhat normal!" she complained.

"This baby will take all that weight away same as his brother. Don't be vain, Nerys."

"Easy for you to say, Julian! You'll never be pregnant!" she snapped.

"If Ezri ever decides-"

"She will be pregnant then, not you!" Kira rolled her eyes. "Don't try to say 'we' or 'us' like other couples! I don't believe men when they make up tales about experiences with sympathy pains or weight gain!"

"Fair enough."

"When will Ezri want babies?"

"Remember she was a very young Trill when joined to the Dax symbiote. Their species live longer and remain fertile well into those lifetimes. She's not ready and I am the last man on Earth-this station-that would push a woman into such a life changing event!"

"Fair enough."

"Pohl, want to see what the world looks like up here on my table?" Julian spoke to the toddler. "Might as well weigh you and measure you while here!"

The boy looked up at him with a neutral expression.

"He won't mind," Kira said.

"How do you know?"

"He's not breaking eye-contact. He's not going to get verbal, trust me. I can tell he'll be fine with you examining him."

"Is he still not speaking any other words other than 'mamma'?"

Kira shrugged, a little frustrated, "Pohl seems like a content baby. He hardly ever cries but he hardly ever laughs or smiles either. He didn't cry the first day I left him at the nursery. I was relieved at first then a bit hurt. The staff told me that it probably just means Pohl has enormous trust that his mother will always return and be there for him."

"I think they were right," Bashir smiled. "They probably know babies and toddlers more than anyone."

"I worry sometimes about his emotional development and lack of vocabulary. It's normal for toddlers to throw tantrums and I feel like he should be talking more. Is Pohl not normal?"

"Nerys!" the doctor covered the child's ears. "Don't fall into the trap my parents fell into! They worried I was falling behind my peers and illegally enhanced me!"

"I wouldn't do something like that!" she insisted.

"Are you complaining that your son is too easy on you? He has reached all his other milestones, some of them even ahead of others! For example, he started walking sooner. He seems more independent than others of his age. So what if he communicates more with body language?"

"That's good enough to communicate with me, but it is not good if he wants to communicate with others."

"Well, there is his half human heritage to consider. Bajorans are supposed to be more emotional, but human males are less emotional than human females. Supposedly."

"I wonder if I am doing something wrong. I worry that something vital is missing in Pohl's life."

As Julian Bashir reached out to Pohl with his medical device, the baby said distinctly, "Dadda!"

Bashir froze and Kira's nose rides flares. Pohl was clueless and began to play with Julian's fingers, especially the finger displaying his wedding band.

"Has he ever said-"

"Never!" Kira hissed.

"Uh…"

Kira was pregnant and unable to suppress her emotions. She began to weep. Pohl looked confused by his mother's tears and Bashir wished he could slither into a hole and die. He felt so awkward about the whole scenario. It was true that he had planted the embryos of her children but Odo's samples from the time he had been human in storage had provided everything else. Julian Bashir was not a father to them any more than he was to Kirayohsi.

"I guess this makes terrible sense!" Kira said. "You are the closest thing my children probably will have to their real father! That is what they are missing! What was I thinking bringing them into this universe without him in it?"

"Technically Odo isn't gone!" Bashir scrambled. "He's part of the Great Link. He's safe, happy, and practically immortal! He might even return someday."

"I try to tell myself that!"

"Pohl has no real idea what he is saying!"

"Doesn't he?"

"Please don't get hysterical! Take some calm breaths. Think of what you are going to call the next baby. You might have told me before. I'm an idiot and forgot," Bashir was desperate.

"I was thinking of naming him after his grandfather."

"What was his name?"

"Taban."

"And what if it's a girl?"

"Illiana."

"Wait, really?" Bashir was puzzled. "Isn't that a Cardassian name?"

"So was Ziyal and I almost chose that but it would have been a bit much."

Luckily the conversation about names distracted Kira and Pohl was reaching for her, babbling, "Mamma, mamma!"

She held and rocked Pohl until they both quieted.

"Kira Nerys," Bashir said whole heartedly. "You are a wonderful mom. Look how much your firstborn adores you! He is like his father. Perhaps that explains his emerging personality better than anything else. Odo was also aloof and choosy about whom he spoke to and bonded with. He was guarded but fiercely protective and loyal. Most of all, he loved you with his entire being. Pohl, his son, gets to have what Odo would have given anything to have: A mother. A father would be good for your children too, but I know you can handle this!"

"I hope so, Julian."

"Pohl is fine! You are more than fine! Go home, drink a chocolate milkshake and I order you to relax! Better yet, here's a jumja stick!"

"You know those things are too sweet for me and worse when I'm pregnant!" she waved it away in disgust.

Pohl snatched it eagerly and both adults laughed.

"Pohl will develop at his own pace just like every other baby," Bashir promised. "I'd worry more about how he will react to his siblings."

"You're right. Thank you, Julian."

When Kira returned to her quarters, she felt some comfort from Julian's words. However, she sat her son down and played a recording of Odo's image and voice. She pointed to him and told Pohl exactly who he was.

"This is your father!" she was still upset and frustrated. "This is 'Dadda' and not Julian Bashir! Please! Will you ever understand?"

Her baby stared but when Taban was born and brought home, he carried something over to them as Nerys was nursing. Pohl had been reluctant to latch but when he did, he was always gentle not greedy. He never bit Kira or pinched her. Taban latched immediately and made little grunting noises. She had stopped nursing the eldest after a single year. She wondered how Taban would fare. Some infants required more time at the breast and others needed less.

"What is that, darling Pohl?" Kira cooed.

"Dadda."

"Hm?"

Pohl had a picture of Odo and Kira within its frame. He was clearly pointing to his father and wanted to teach his sibling.

"Oh, you do understand!" Kira was so happy and relieved.

By the time Illiana was born, Pohl was speaking in full sentences with nearly adult grammar as though he had known all along and was simply waiting for his soft palette to grow in so he didn't sound babyish like Taban. As for her daughter, well, Kira Illiana laughed, smiled, and she cried enough to make up for both her brothers. They had their own personalities and made their mother both happy and a little crazy. Pohl was eager to teach Illiana all about 'Dadda' too.

"You'll always be my rock, Pohl," she nuzzled him as she nursed Illiana. "Just like your father."


End file.
